An Almost Love at First Sight
by whatsamatta
Summary: How a love affair began between two complete strangers.


_**Disclaimer: Yes, I am, in fact, stalling my ingenious little brains out. If I can live with it, so can you. This could go with Suku I suppose, but I think I'd rather have it be a one-shot.**_

HA

The first time he laid eyes on her, he would prefer not to remember, but did so if only because of her. He was dressed up in the likeness of the Statue of Liberty, a mascot for his mom's nail salon _Liberty Nails_. On the corner and waving his sign less than enthusiastically, watching as assholes in their hatchbacks laughing at him, he really _couldn't_ care less for his life.

Until he saw her, that is.

Her two-tone white '98 Subaru Wagon rolled to a stop as first in line at the intersection he was occupying. She was lightly tapping the steering wheel, shaking her head in the same fashion to whatever was in her stereo. Eyes were trained on the red light just as his were trained on her. She must have felt his gaze, for her orbs tore themselves from the traffic light to the environment around her.

Left, then right, then, oh, there he was. Her dark hair framed her face as her vivid hazel eyes met his. The smile on her lips held amusement, but it wasn't like the ones those hatchback douche bags who laugh at him wore. Her thin lips hinted that she was trying to hide her amusement, long lashes curling to rest elegantly on her cheeks every time she blinked.

Sid was smitten.

She turned her gaze back to the light, but he could still see her smile as the signal changed to green and she eased off the line. He didn't notice when the sign slipped from his grasp to hit his foot rather forcefully. He just watched the taillights disappear in the sea of cars, even long after she had vanished. The only thing that brought him out of his reverie was the rather forceful smack his mother gave the back of his head when she had come out on her break and found him _not_ doing what she was paying him twenty bucks to do.

Yep, Sid was definitely smitten.

*

The second time he saw her, she was on the news. She was part of a large group of people trying to bring attention to humanity; not just a single issue like AIDS, or war, or hunger, but everything. A massive effort by multiple organizations in the middle of Hillwood City's Downtown District.

She was in the background of one of the organizers who was being interviewed, setting up the surprise that Hillwood would soon see. She was wearing a red turtleneck and black fuzzy hat; she was beautiful and he couldn't take his eyes off of her.

"_While the war in Iraq and the problems with health care and big corporations screwing the little guy are important, we just wanted to remind America and the world that there are other problems in the world. And that it's not just big celebrities like Bono and Sting who are concerned._" That was the 'head honcho' of the feet they were hosting, smiling as he explained the want to help everyone. When the interviewer asked where the idea came from, the man smiled wider and pulled _her_ from the background, laughing as he informed the viewing public that it was her idea.

"_Actually, it's a funny story. I was listening to that song 99 Red Balloons, and getting this visual of what they were describing and then BAM! It just came to me. But I wanted more then one message, and then 99 balloons seemed too small. So here it is: 99 red balloons for AIDS, 99 pink balloons for breast cancer, 99 purple Balloons for autism, 99 orange balloons for hunger, 99 green balloons for the environment, and 99 white balloons for world peace. Of course there are maybe a dozen more, but that's a lot of balloons to list._" She laughed, a sound so magnificent that he decided nothing in the world could sound better. And damn, he didn't catch her name, and she was still considered a small little nobody by the news station, so they didn't have her name showing.

Suddenly, everyone started counting down from five, and when they reached the end he could only watch as a whole fleet of balloons took off into the skies. Each color had its own rooftop, and each balloon was carried off by the wind.

Recognizing his apartment building in the background setting, Sid rushed to the window and gaped at the hundreds of balloons bumping into one another as they blew off into the atmosphere. The sight alone sent chills along his spine, even more so when one hit his window and he could barely make out what looked like a name. Did each balloon have a different name of a person or animal that was lost to the problem?

And she came up with that? Oh yeah, Sid was definitely past smitten.

He was quickly falling for this woman.

*

The third time their paths crossed, they didn't even know it. Sid had been getting grief from his friends ever since he told them about seeing her. So much so that he was just about ready to kill them. And lucky for him, today was just one of those days.

The gang was in an abandoned parking lot, forming a haphazard and completely illegal circle with their rides. It was a tradition they had come up with after giving up Gerald Field to a younger generation – they would all sit on the hoods, roofs, and trunks of their vehicles and hang out.

"So tell me, Romeo, did your eyes meet from across a crowded room?" Helga asked from the hood of Carmine, her '71 Mustang. He sent her a half-assed scowl but could hide the admiration from his face, nor his voice.

"Crowded intersection, actually." Came his correction, and Helga laughed even as Arnold bumped her with his shoulder.

"Leave him alone, Helga; so what if Sid's in love with a girl he saw once and has never actually talked to?" Even Arnold couldn't keep it together, and by the end of his supportive speech he was laughing as well.

"Bow howdy you guys sure give a dude a hard time." Sid whined, not particularly keen on the hassle he was getting from his friends. They just laughed harder as he figured now would be as good a time as any to call up a local retail chain to see if they carried a CD he was looking for – Christmas was just around the corner after all. That, and maybe it would shut them up.

"_Best Buy customer service; how can I help you?_" It was a woman's voice, which didn't surprise him all too much. The store he called, the one on Mill Plain, had mostly female employees working the customer service desk. Her voice did, though, sound vaguely familiar.

"Yeah, I was wondering if you had Straight No Chaser's Christmas CD, _Christmas Cheers_." He could hear her typing through the phone, even over the jeers of his friends, who were still making smooching noises at him.

"_Straight No Chaser, huh? I'm a fan of their stuff. Hm, our website says we carry it, so let me just grab the SKU and see if we have any in store._" She told him, then sighed in irritation. He could almost see a generic female slouching on a register, a phone on her shoulder as she worked. The vision entertained him, but his mocking friends were getting on his nerves. And of course, there was one readily available outlet.

"Jeez, you think you're taking long enough?" he snapped, and immediately regretted it. He wanted it to sound annoyed but humorous. Too bad it only came out as asshole-ish, which she certainly heard.

"_Yeah, I know, and I'm sorry about that. Our computers are running a little slow; you'd think being one of the leading electronic retailers we'd have faster computers._" She joked, trying to pacify him, and he almost accepted it. Almost.

Until Sticky let loose a falsetto '_Oh Sid_' complete with kiss noises.

"Found it yet?" He complained, and was answered by a weary sigh from her end.

"_Yes sir, it says here that we have three available on hand._" she replied, and he smiled.

"Good. That's all I wanted to know." He caught Helga's eye, and noticed she was frowning slightly.

"_Glad to be of help. Have a good night and a very merry bah humbug._" She quipped before the line went dead, and Sid pulled the phone away from his ear to look at it with confusion. Suddenly he smiled, and chuckled lightly.

"Jeez Sid, 'tis the season to be grouchy?" Helga shot at him, and he looked away from the phone to see her smirking.

"Yeah Sid, that was a bit rude, don't you think?" Phoebe asked as she cuddled into Gerald's embrace.

"It's ok guys, she told me to have a very merry bah humbug, so we're even."

All were silent for a moment, before the parking lot was filled with laughter once more. Yet he still couldn't shake the feeling of recognizing her voice, nor the shiver of pleasure that ran up his spine at her sarcasm.

*

So, after the few instances they had come in contact, it was only inevitable that they would come face to face. Sid, though, could never have imagined it would arrive so soon. Had he known, of course, he would have dressed better.

He stood in line at that local Best Buy, _Christmas Cheers_ firmly in one hand and a cherry coke in the other. He was lost in both his own thoughts, and the TVs they hung at the front lanes to distract customers when things were moving a little slow.

"Sir? I can help you right over here." That terribly familiar feminine voice called out to him, and he was surprised to see that soft face framed by semi-curly dark hair. She smiled a well practiced smile as she scanned the item without really looking at it; something in those hazel eyes thought they knew him, but weren't quite sure.

"Did you find everything alright?" she prompted, and he couldn't bring himself to think that she had this rehearsed to a t.

"Yeah, I did, thanks to someone at customer service who told me you guys had it a few days ago." He laughed, and her eyes got crafty as she flipped over the CD case and nearly laughed.

"Christmas Cheers?" she asked, and he nodded while giving her that crafty smile in return.

"Merry bah humbug?" was his answer, and she laughed again as she totaled out his transaction and offered him a gift receipt.

"Nah, this is to me from Santa, so I don't need one. How about a coffee instead?" From close up, he realized that her hair wasn't black, but a dark shade of red. She smiled that same embarrassed smile she wore when he first saw her, and even blushed.

"Sure, why not. I'm off in a few anyways; we can go down the strip to Peets." They both nodded, and he wanted to follow her even as her supervisor came to take her and count the till she had been using.

"By the way, I'm Sid." He told her just before she slid into the Administration office.

"Anna." She shook his hand, and disappeared.

Oh yeah, Sid was definitely in love. Lucky for him, she's single.

HA


End file.
